Students for Environmental Action, a collective blog

Chegg it

2009-12-02T16:39:00.000-06:00

Everyone knows how expensive their college textbooks were at the start of the term. Here we are, it’s the end of the term and the bookstore wants to give you pennies on the dollar for your books. I say forget the bookstore! You can make some real dough by going to www.chegg.com/buyback/. They’ll pay you top dollar for your books, like $40 each – and no lines because it’s online. What could you do with double the money the bookstore would give you? Chegg even pays the shipping and plants a tree for every book you sell.

How about the fact I have a promo code CC106937 that gets you an extra $5 with your order?

GET lots of cash + GET more cash + they plant trees = A green way to sell your books

Go to www.chegg.com/buyback/, you can get your used textbooks sold now. After all, you read your books cover to cover, or at least that’s what your professor believes, so you should be smart enough to know where to sell them for the extra buck, smarty pants.

Wind Energy!

2009-10-14T17:50:00.001-05:00

check it out:

http://www.stumbleupon.com/s/#9CucHx/www.magenn.com//

Energy Committee

2009-09-19T05:33:00.001-05:00

Ideas for reducing energy consumption and increasing awareness on campus:

-Get involved with IT to examine the viability of automatic computer shutdowns for campus computers after an extended idle period.

-Get involved with administration(/student gov?) to look at funding for installing lighting occupancy sensors.

-Place stickers on light switches to remind to turnoff after exiting a room.

-Create and place signs to encourage the use of stairs over elevators.

-Devise an experiment to examine the viability of waiting for a parking spot to open versus walking to campus through polling, car counting, or devising an experiment. Get connected with campus media to distribute results.

-Look into possible metering of campus electric utilities to model building energy use.

Homecoming Task Force

2009-09-17T12:54:00.001-05:00

We thought having a covered wagon would be cool. Possibly pulling it with bikes.

We also thought for a banner a THEN NOW & NEW FRONTIER would work. We would divide the banner in thirds and have picture of an old frontier in the THEN section. Factories and pollution in the NOW. And Earth Ships and Green practices in the NEW FRONTIER.

For a banner/chalk we also considered having factories in the background polluting and then a covered wagon coming from that mess. We discussed some slogan with 'Blazing a trail..'

Food & Health Committe Project Ideas

2009-09-16T10:01:00.003-05:00

-Local foods frenzy- Event inviting Peoples Grocery, the Student Farm, fair trade advocates. We could also share information from/about Food Inc, invite different agriculture groups, talk about making healthy decisions. Contact the organizer of movies on the grass could be a good idea.

Veg pledge- We could collaborate with the Student Farm about this, maybe work on discount vegetables during that week. We could also do an organic food awareness campaign (both positive and negative aspects). A veggie potluck could also be cool.

Healthy, Exercise Day- possibly at Konza? Biking? top of the world/scenic overlook, walk the whole campus with faculty from campus, "more in depth hike"

Kitchen Composting (Help Kramer & The HOES)- provide information to educate people on composting, contact housing and dining about starting a composting program

Other events/projects- GO TO HUNGER BANQUET from fair trade!!!

Green Living/ Education Committee Project Ideas

2009-09-15T22:27:00.003-05:00

Ideas generating at the Green Living/ Education Meeting:

-Team up with the Student Farm to help promote consumption of their produce or that of other local growers

-Bring in guest speakers to the university. Dr. Vandana Shiva will be coming to K-State to speak on Friday, October 16th. What sort of creative methods can SEA use to promote this AWESOME event?

-Make more visits to elementary schools as a way of engaging the community. What sort of topics/activities could we present?

-America Recycles Day is on November 15th. SEA could make new fliers on reducing, reusing, and recycling to hand out. We could also get a Green Pledge going. What other creative ways could we raise awareness about waste reduction?

-Does anyone want to go to any of the Green Festivals?

What is your water footprint?

2009-02-26T18:33:00.000-06:00

check it out: http://h2oconserve.org/home.php?pd=index

I'm a sceptic now, says ex-NASA climate boss

2009-01-29T22:10:00.002-06:00

The retired scientist formerly in charge of key NASA climate programs has come out as a sceptic.

Dr John Theon, who supervised James Hansen - the activist-scientist who helped give the manmade global warming hypothesis centre prominent media attention - repents at length in a published letter. Theon wrote to the Minority Office at the Environment and Public Works Committee on January 15, 2009, and excerpts were published by skeptic Senator Inhofe's office here last night.

"As Chief of several of NASA Headquarters’ programs (1982-94), an SES position, I was responsible for all weather and climate research in the entire agency, including the research work by James Hansen, Roy Spencer, Joanne Simpson, and several hundred other scientists at NASA field centers, in academia, and in the private sector who worked on climate research," Theon wrote. "I appreciate the opportunity to add my name to those who disagree that global warming is man made.”

Theon takes aim at the models, and implicitly criticises Hansen for revising to the data set:

“My own belief concerning anthropogenic climate change is that the models do not realistically simulate the climate system because there are many very important sub-grid scale processes that the models either replicate poorly or completely omit. Furthermore, some scientists have manipulated the observed data to justify their model results. In doing so, they neither explain what they have modified in the observations, nor explain how they did it.

"They have resisted making their work transparent so that it can be replicated independently by other scientists. This is clearly contrary to how science should be done. Thus there is no rational justification for using climate model forecasts to determine public policy.” (Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/01/28/nasa_climate_theon/)

TED Talks...

2009-01-29T21:34:00.002-06:00

Hey all -

TED talks are awesome and worldchange.com's founder speaks in this one. It's quite awesome. Watch, comment, discuss with me!

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jamais_cascio_looks_ahead.html

and then if you want to keep watching on perhaps the most nifty software I have seen in a long while (and it ties into the above TED), watch http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/blaise_aguera_y_arcas_demos_photosynth.html

How Dean Kamen's Magical Water Machine Could Save the World

2008-11-25T13:01:00.000-06:00

This IS different than the below article, and EVERYONE should read it (the original article). It is fascinating.

The "sling" is Lord Dumpling's revolutionary new version of the Stirling engine, a no-emission power source that engineers have been trying to perfect for almost two hundred years. Instead of the tiny explosions that drive the pistons of a standard internal-combustion engine, the Stirling drives its piston by forcing gas from one chamber to another in a perfectly closed system. He's pretty much got it nailed, aside from a few tweaks and a few niggling questions about who will pay for it. The "shot" is his equally revolutionary vapor-compression water distiller, which can make pure medicinal-grade water out of anything that's wet, even urine or toxic waste -- water so clean you could inject it into your arm. Together, the sling and the shot could save millions of lives. That's why he spent $50 million of his own money developing the prototypes and testing them in Third World villages, and they work, and we have to get the word out because 50 percent of all human illness is caused by waterborne pathogens.

He really can't. There's just too much he wants to do. When he proved that FIRST worked, he was sure it would be in every school in the country the next year. Same with the Segway. It's 100 percent more efficient than cars, those metal boxes designed for the open road when 50 percent of the people alive live in cities. It's just stupid. It's lunacy. And someday, the Slingshot will go into production, too. And one of the kids from FIRST will win the Nobel prize or cure cancer. But it takes time for an innovation to become a commodity. Because the Wright brothers flew a plane and it was a long time before frequent-flier miles. You have to be patient, give the world time to catch up.

Entire Article: http://www.esquire.com/features/dean-kamen-1208

Water Out of Thin Air

2008-11-25T00:35:00.000-06:00

Element Four has developed a machine that it hopes will become the first mainstream household appliance to have been invented since the microwave. Their creation, the WaterMill, uses the electricity of about three light bulbs to condense moisture from the air and purify it into clean drinking water.

It works by drawing air through filters to remove dust and particles, then cooling it to just below the temperature at which dew forms. The condensed water is passed through a self-sterilising chamber that uses microbe-busting UV light to eradicate any possibility of Legionnaires' disease or other infections. Finally, it is filtered and passed through a pipe to the owner's fridge or kitchen tap.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/23/water-mill-eco-invention

Proposed Recycling Survey

2008-11-20T14:03:00.000-06:00

Here is the recycling survey that I have drafted and hope to send to students living in the residence halls in the next couple of weeks. Right now the main objective of the survey is to assess how many residents want an all-hall recycling program and if they would be willing to pay for one. The survey would go out to about 500 randomly selected residents. Please leave comments with suggestions about how to rephrase questions currently on the survey (they need to be unbiased), about adding additional questions, or if you think any are irrelevant and should be removed.

Residence Hall Recycling Survey

Survey Description

This survey is being conducted by Students for Environmental Action to assess the current level of recycling and waste output in the residence halls as well as to determine the desire of residents to have an all hall recycling program.

Opening Instructions

Please answer the following questions.

Page 1

Closing Message

Thank you for taking time to voice your opinion.

- End of Survey -

Veg Pledge Info

2008-11-14T13:54:00.000-06:00

Mark Bittman on what's wrong with what we eat:

The Meatrix (factory farming):

Further reading:

http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Feb04/Mickeyz0212.htm (reasons to be vegan)
http://www.thegreenguide.com/doc/51/slaughterhouse (factory farming)
http://www.vegan.org/

Laura wanted to post most of this material, but she is too weak.

NBAF

2008-11-10T20:01:00.000-06:00

NBAF this stands for national bio and agro-defense facility. Right now k-state is in the selection process to bring such a facility right here onto campus. This would mean there would be research conducted here on biological warfare agents and lethal animal diseases. It sounds like a horrible idea to me to put all the students here at risk of these diseases. Also many of the animal diseases they are going to be researching are not in the United States and if they were to get out it would be a huge disaster. This includes Rift Valley fever (virus)3 which during the outbreak in Egypt in 1977-78, several million people were infected and thousands died. Also did you know lyme disease and west nile came to the US from a similar facility on Plum island off the east coast. That was an island and it got out. As a scientist myself I realize the great potential a facilty such as this one would have to investigate these diseases but I dont think campus is the place for it. You can check out the pros here http://www.k-state.edu/media/nbaf/faqs.html. The cons are a lot harder to find becasue the facility would potentially bring in a lot of money. It would make more sense to study these diseases where they currently exist and not put our environment at risk of infection and spread.

Solar power game-changer: 'Near perfect' absorption of sunlight, from all angles

2008-11-06T01:30:00.000-06:00

Nov 04, 2008 05:19:01 GMT

A new nanoengineered anti-reflective coating developed by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute researchers boosts the amount of sunlight captured by solar panels (from 67 to 96 percent) and allows them to absorb the entire spectrum of sunlight from any angle, regardless of the sun's position in the sky. It could help to overcome two major hurdles blocking the progress and wider use of solar power.

(Source: http://www.physorg.com/news144940463.html)

Activist says Green Needs To Touch Blue Collar

2008-10-27T12:44:00.000-05:00

Here is an interview with Van Jones, founder of Green for All, a group advocating training for emerging green jobs. He talks about the necessity of making emerging green technologies available for middle and lower income brackets as well as lifting people out of poverty by giving them training to hold new "green collar" jobs. The article does a good job of emphasizing the need for holistic solutions to environmental problems.

Some people defend against the idea of the "eco-elite," saying that individuals paying for high priced green products are helping the development of green technology along by making it profitable for companies to be innovative. With continued support from these individuals, businesses will become more efficient at producing green technologies, making it more affordable for lower income groups. Van Jones suggests that this may not be the case, that green technology may always be relatively unaffordable for those with lower incomes. Do you agree? Is there anything that could be done to expedite the process of making this technology more affordable?

Eco-themed Halloween costume ideas

2008-10-15T13:43:00.000-05:00

If anyone is still looking for a good costume idea for Halloween, here are some that Umbra suggested in her weekly advice column on Grist.org. (Some of you may have already seen this, but I thought it was amusing and that it might be of interest.) :

Al Gore bitten by polar bear. Find Al Gore mask (eBay?) or pomade hair and add cardboard armature to chin area. Attach stuffed polar animal by mouth to humorous body area of your choosing.

CFL bulb. Wear shiny white body suit and electrify hair in some way (Bride of Frank wig?). Build CFL filament around yourself, using white foam tubes, stuffed white fabric/socks, or white balloons.

Prius owner. Dress in clean, tasteful clothing and walk around with contented air, holding Prius key casually at chin level (paint small matchbox black and write "Prius" in shiny letters or, if you have actual Prius, write "Prius" on key). Stuff pockets to overflowing with money saved on gas.

Landfill. Don dun clothing with the following attached by tape or thread: lots of garbage, toy bulldozer, seagulls, trash pickers, or, for international credit, houses.

Glacier in 2050. Carry glass of water.

The nation's highways. Wear black, put yellow stripes down your middle. Add local humor with toy vehicles, signs, and figurines referencing specific transportation dilemma.

Here's the link, if you want to read more.

Minutes – 14 October, 2008

2008-10-15T12:56:00.000-05:00

As requested, here are the minutes . . . posted on the coblog! I guess people can ask questions about them here if they have them.

Event announcements . . . mark your calendars!

This Thursday, October 16 (TOMORROW) @ City Hall (1101 Poyntz Avenue) 6-8pm
BICYCLE MEETING!
Open house to discuss bicycling in Manhattan! We all want Manhattan to be more bicycle friendly, so this is your chance to have your voice heard and your presence noted. Go, go, go.
Friday, October 17 from 9-2 in the quad on campus
Farm Club (Harvesters of Environmental Sustainability) will be holding a Farmer's Market. And apparently they WILL be selling sweet potatoes, thank goodness.
Saturday, October 18 – also with the Farm Club, another farm help day and camp out!
Starting at around 10am and throughout the whole day and night, come help and camp out and have a lot of fun!
So we've got a spot in the Homecoming Parade, and we decided at the meeting that we're going to go for it! . . . Which means we have to make a float now! We threw around a couple of ideas at the meeting – including an Earth made out of recycled materials, or a field with wind turbines on it. Sound awesome? I thought so. Come to the meeting next Tuesday (October 21) a little early and help work on the float. We'll be there starting at 6pm and just stay through the meeting.
November 19 – VegPledge! Think about signing it – see Laura's email from October 11 for more information.
Here's the petition and also check out the Facebook event.

Some other announcements:

SEA is in need of a Fundraiser! Lani has opted to step down from that position due to busy-ness with school and other responsibilities.
Here's the description of the position:  "The Fundraiser chair will coordinate fundraising activities and research new and creative recycled fundraising merchandise to sell at any of the social functions or Union tabling." There are the usual crafts (recycled notebooks, hemp bracelets, bottle cap magnets, etc.) The fundraiser also usually plans a craft party each semester.

This is a great opportunity to be more involved in the club. This position also allows you to be as creative as you want to be. Think about it, if anyone is interested, come to next week's meeting or send Zack (zackp@ksu.edu) an email. We'll probably hold nominations and elections soon.
The Udall Scholarship is available for college sophomores and juniors (or any students who have at least another year of school)
Around 85 scholarships are awarded each year to students interested in environmental or Native American health. If anyone wants more info, talk to Ben (champion@ksu.edu).
Use the coblog! See Andrew's email from this morning if you're having any trouble with it.

Until next week,
Erica

The Giant Pool of Money

2008-10-06T10:10:00.000-05:00

As one who knew (or cared) little about how investment markets work and how they are related to everything else (including the environment), I have found the latest happenings in our economy pretty interesting. With all the news reports that are out on the subject I've found its also an excellent time to learn...

Here's an episode of This American Life that explains the housing crisis, how it started, how it is linked to Wall Street, and its implications on the economy. As in any episode of This American Life, "The Giant Pool of Money" also provides interesting perspectives of people, in this case of ones who were directly involved in buildup of the housing crisis. Check it out.

Saving the World for a Latte

2008-10-06T09:47:00.000-05:00

Here's an interesting article about a recycling program where customers actually get paid based on amount they recycle.

Do you think RecycleBank (or using economic incentives in general) is a good way to entice people to recycle?

Do you feel the article accurately portrayed the Midwest?

Colbert Report

2008-10-01T14:34:00.000-05:00

I thought this was amusing.

http://www.aashe.org/index.php

2008-05-15T22:14:00.000-05:00

Anybody familiar with this organization or their STARS program?

I found it through Truthout.org

They are also hosting a conference in November from the 9-11 in Raleigh, NC. Might be an alternative/supplement to GreenFest in SF that same month.

-David Beckley

Championing KSU's Sustainability Initiatives

2008-05-12T10:17:00.000-05:00

Monday, May 12, 2008

BEN CHAMPION TO DIRECT K-STATE'S MULTIPLE INITIATIVES IN SUSTAINABILITY

MANHATTAN -- Kansas State University has multiple initiatives going on to encourage the campus to go green.

The K-State administration has recognized the need for university-wide leadership of these initiatives, so Ben Champion, a 2002 K-State graduate and Rhodes scholar, is returning to campus to coordinate these efforts. Champion has been appointed to the newly formed position of director of sustainability for the university, tasked with developing a university-wide approach for addressing sustainability at K-State.

According to Tom Rawson, vice president for administration and finance, "Ben will provide leadership for sustainability efforts and be the spokesperson for K-State's initiatives in this area."

Champion will provide leadership and oversight to existing initiatives such as campus recycling and construction of green buildings on campus, but he will also identify opportunities for new initiatives, help develop curriculum, facilitate interdisciplinary research, work with students, and engage the broader community in areas where K-State can be a leader in terms of sustainability.

Champion earned K-State bachelor's degrees in chemistry, natural resources and environmental sciences with minors in Spanish and political science in 2002. He is a 2003 Rhodes scholar who in January of this year completed a doctoral degree in geography at Oxford University researching sustainable food systems.

Champion was an intern for Rep. Dennis Moore in summer 2002. He was a Udall Scholarship winner in 2000. He also was a finalist in the 2002 Truman scholarship competition. He is an Eagle Scout, a Kansas Honors Scholar, a K-State Putnam Scholar, a Howard Hughes Undergraduate Research Scholar, as well as winner of June Hull Sherrid Biology Scholarship. He was an environmental director on his residence hall floor and president of Students for Environmental Action at K-State. He is a member of Alpha Chi Sigma chemical fraternity and Golden Key and Phi Beta Kappa National Honor Societies. The son of Mike and Paula Champion, Olathe, he is a 1998 graduate of Olathe South High School.

For information on "green" activities at K-State, visit http://www.k-state.edu/media/webzine/green/index.html

Gardening?

2008-04-29T14:32:00.001-05:00

Does anyone have gardening plans for the summer. Is the garden at Knabe's going to get going again?

Home Brewed Ethanol

2008-04-28T22:18:00.000-05:00

New York Times
April 27, 2008

Prototype

Home Brew for the Car, Not the Beer Cup

By MICHAEL FITZGERALD

WHAT if you could make fuel for your car in your backyard for less than you pay at the pump? Would you?

The first question has driven Floyd S. Butterfield for more than two decades. Mr. Butterfield, 52, is something of a legend for people who make their own ethanol. In 1982, he won a California Department of Food and Agriculture contest for best design of an ethanol still, albeit one that he could not market profitably at the time.

Now he thinks that he can, thanks to his partnership with the Silicon Valley entrepreneur Thomas J. Quinn. The two have started the E-Fuel Corporation, which soon will announce its home ethanol system, the E-Fuel 100 MicroFueler. It will be about as large as a stackable washer-dryer, sell for $9,995 and ship before year-end.

The net cost to consumers could drop by half after government incentives for alternate fuels, like tax credits, are applied.

The MicroFueler will use sugar as its main fuel source, or feedstock, along with a specially packaged time-release yeast the company has developed. Depending on the cost of sugar, plus water and electricity, the company says it could cost as little as a dollar a gallon to make ethanol. In fact, Mr. Quinn sometimes collects left-over alcohol from bars and restaurants in Los Gatos, Calif., where he lives, and turns it into ethanol; the only cost is for the electricity used in processing.

In general, he says, burning a gallon of ethanol made by his system will produce one-eighth the carbon of the same amount of gasoline.

Read Entire Article

	Freshman
	Sophomore
	Junior
	Senior
	Graduate Student

	Boyd
	Ford
	Goodnow
	Haymaker
	Marlatt
	Moore
	Putnam
	Smurthwaite
	Van Zile
	West

	Every trash room
	Odd floor trash rooms
	Your residence hall's basement
	Your residence hall's lobby
	Outdoor bins
	I would not recycle if facilities were available

	1	2	3	4
5.1 Newspaper
5.2 Magazines
5.3 Computer/Office/Notebook Paper
5.4 Aluminum Cans
5.5 Plastic Bottles
5.6 Cardboard

	1	2	3	4	5
7.1 How much extra money would you be willing to pay per year in your housing bill for a recycling program?

	Yes
	No